4.4. 2023-2024 Annual Survey Responses

Search functionality

• A more "Search Friendly" catalog
• Better patron side search
• Catalog searches seem glitchy.
• Improve title search technology
• Catalog search improvement
• Easier catalog searching
• Catalog search, make it more intuitive
• More user-friendly catalog
• Improved catalog results based on the way patrons search for items
• Searching often offers up different results with the same search criteria.
• Catalog search functions are sometimes inconsistent

The search functionality is really at the core of Evergreen and one of the most important parts of the effectiveness of the software. We have made some tweaks in the last year, like adding MARC fields to search indexes to try to improve our results. Due to how integrated it is into the software, Cardinal generally has to rely on the larger Evergreen development community for improvements to search. 

• Improving search functions (more able to handle misspellings etc....we know it's being worked on, and we APPRECIATE it SO much)
• Is there anyway we could make the Cardinal catalog less specific when it comes to searching for titles? Often, if you are off by even one word, no search results will come up. Maybe we could have an optional suggestion mode that would mimic Google's "Did you mean this?" feature.
• Patrons often misquote book titles, modify the catalog search to allow for partial, incorrect, or incomplete titles to provide results that may be what the patron meant. Although it does permit a variation of this, it doesn't entirely meet the need.
• It can be difficult to find a book if you don't type the EXACT title in
• Improved search engine - instead of an empty return, show items outside of search range, ie: "No results w/in your search range, but here are some results further away."
• The "search the catalog" feature could be more intuitive to include results that are similar to what was searched for.
• Have Spell check options for searching in Evergreen
• Making search easier when you do not have EXACT title of an item
• Smart searching: Evergreen users must be exact on their searches as Evergreen does not take into consideration misspellings or offer suggestions. Patrons often don't know they exact titles, so we must first google their requests to ensure we have the correct spellings, then go back to Evergreen to search. Patrons themselves wouldn't do this, so any at-home usage would return no results.

We'd also like to see some more modern search behavior in Evergreen, which helps users get closer to what they're looking for if they aren't precise in what they search for. Many of these sorts of core elements of the software take time for such big changes. As mentioned last year, we've been talking about how we might be able to support the implementation of Elasticsearch (https://www.elastic.co/elasticsearch) We'll keep on pushing for improvements.

• Search results come back with most relevant first

This should be the case when you have Sort by Relevance chosen in the search options. That being said, the process of assigning relevance is part of the inner workings of the search process may have unexpected conclusions about what is relevant. If you see any unexpected results, we're happy to investigate.

• Better subject searching.
• Better keyword and subject search functionality -- occasionally throws back erroneous results

We'd be interested to learn more details that we can investigate or suggestions you may have for improvements.

• To have the ability to easily click on subject headings in the MARC record.

On the staff side, subject headings are clickable in the Staff View tab of the bib record. Would it be helpful for them to be links as well in the MARC View tab?

• And why can't I find "Through the Mountains" by John E. Ross when I search by author "John E. Ross" "John E Ross" "John Ross" "Ross, John" "Ross, John E" ??

Due to the way an author search performs currently, if you include additional information that is not included in the author field of the MARC record (=100 field), then you will not receive results for that author. Using John E. Ross as an example, the =100 field includes the information "Ross, John, 1946-" with no E. So if you search for "Through the Mountains" with "Ross, John" or "John Ross," you will get a result (though you may need to click through a page or two of results to see it). However, if you search for "John E. Ross" or "John E Ross" or "Ross, John E," you will get no results, because the "E" is throwing the search off. There is an active bug report for just this type of situation (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2059911) that will hopefully allow for searching of alternate versions of authors' names in the future.

• I frequently use split screen to make book lists or look between reading lists and searching the catalog. If possible, it would be helpful to make the left column (with quick links to authors, topics, etc.) In the catalog search collapsible so I don't have to scroll an entire page to get to the books when using a window smaller than the standard screen.

Thanks for your suggestion. We're working on making this possible. Please add heat to this launchpad wishlist bug to get the community's attention onto the issue. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073988

• Ability to export and import save search templates between terminals. I want to set up useful searches and share them with colleagues across my system to make it easy to quickly choose frequently used search parameters, but it's frustrating to have to set it up from scratch on each machine.

We've added this suggestion to Launchpad: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1028663

• More accurate filters (it often filters too much or not enough)
• More search filters for the catalog.
• Also, a more detailed search to narrow down items we are looking for, especially being able to select the age of readers.

Search facets and filters are configurable, but also rely on existing data in the cataloging records to work. We've added this topic as one to discuss with our catalogers to figure out what's feasible based on the data we have. We can look into reader age filters specifically.

• Searching by Genre for books

This can be done now by performing a Subject search for the genre. You can find more information regarding this in the Knowledge Book. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=48

• Staff Catalog: When using the filters, you cannot see the entire listing (ex, the are four listing for Adult Large Print Fic...but this all I can see, even if I hover over it. This is extremely frustrating).

We had that same issue in the public facing OPAC and made modifications to how the filters are displayed to address it. We'll investigate how we can fix it in the staff client. 

• I would also like to know why when doing a title search the system goes to a different screen where then in order to place a hold you need to click on Place a hold or patron view in order to gain any information.

Sounds like you're referring to the staff search? Its hard to say why someone designed it one way or another. Recently, there was a new tab added labeled Staff View which shows more details about the item without requiring you to click through to the Patron View. We're happy to hear suggestions on ways to make it more efficient or simple.

• Hiding missing/lost on PAC when searching for an item

Lost & Missing don't show up in the public OPAC, so we presume you mean the staff search. There is a Limit to Available checkbox on the search form, but that doesn't obscure lost and missing once you go to the item table for a record. I submitted a wishlist bug for this suggestion: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073989

• Just a minor thing on my "wish list". When searching the staff catalog the default is the keyword search. I almost always click over to a search template. Would it be possible to have the search template on a machine just come up as a default?

Makes sense. There's an active Launchpad bug for this request: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1028663

• Smarter browsing.

We're interested to hear more about what you mean by this.

• It would be helpful if series/volume numbers could be listed in the title when searching.

If the series number is in the 245$n, it should be showing up in the public OPAC and the staff view. This might be a cataloging issue. We'd be interested in seeing examples of what you mean. 

• I also miss when we had the option of applying filters as to which reader's section we were looking for. Example: Imagine if I wanted to search for books on circuses, but I ONLY wanted material located in adult fiction. With our current model, you'd have to sift through a lot of children's books and non fiction to find what you're looking for.

This should be possible by expanding the three dot menu in the staff search (to the right of the Search Terms field). It is also available in the advanced search page in the OPAC.

• Remove large print materials as a "genre" when initial search results are rendered -- doesn't make sense to list it there when it's ultimately a "form";

This is a result of cataloging items with a 655 tag of large print, clickable genre headings are populated through 655.

• When looking for a title, just put them all up and not just 25, 50, 100. If there are more than 100, we can't see them.

If I'm understanding you correctly, there should be options on those results pages (usually in the top right of the search results) to click through to the other pages. Another short term workaround we use is to replace "&limit=10" in the web address to something like "&limit=250" to see more results on one page. 

• Ability to restrict searches to home library, in-house items a bit easier

Not sure if you're referring to the public or staff search, but the typical path we use is to click on the "Library:" field of the search form. It drops down some options and you can start typing the branch name to see it on the list. In the staff search, the box at the top right also allows you to target a branch by starting to type the name. If you click on the Search Preferences link under the library name on the staff search, you can set your default search library, which may help to keep your searches scoped to what you're interested in seeing.

E-resources in search

• More easily hide online or e materials
• Electronic Resources show up in catalog search results, even when you click to exclude them
• It would be nice if there were a better way to filter search results (for example, filtering out electronic resources when searching for physical items).
• If exclude electronic resources is selected then it should not show electronic resources on the search results.

We've recently updated the "Exclude electronic resources" criteria so that it should exclude everything that has an item Form of Electronic or Online, or a format icon of e-book, e-audio, e-video or e-serials. We've found that some of the cataloging records we get from vendors aren't properly cataloged to be caught by these filters. If you come across examples of electronic records that are bypassing the e-resource filter, please let us know the TCN so that we can figure out what the problem is, find the other records that have the same problem and fix it in bulk.

• Automatically exclude electronic resources unless requested
• Automate "exclude electronic materials" because no one looks for electronic materials through a librarian
• On the patron side of the catalog, please make "Exclude electronic resources" the default search setting. We are constantly telling patrons that items are electronic and not physical items in our library.

If you'd like to make this "Exclude electronic resources" checkbox checked by default on your patron facing OPAC search, we can do that. If you'd like, your library system also has the option of making electronic resources in the catalog not findable at all in your OPAC search results. Please submit a ticket if your library would like to completely remove these hits from your search results. 

• Include the Exclude Electronic Resources option in the Staff catalog. It was extremely useful. Don't understand why it was removed.

This option is still available, but moved to the "Search Preferences" link shown on the right hand side when you're doing a catalog search in the Staff catalog.

Server

• Speed issues
• Faster servers
• Less slowdown
• Platform stability
• System speed
• I feel like evergreen is freezing on searches and saves more than it used to.
• We struggle a lot with the system running slowly, so faster systems so things don't end up not working.
• Preventing slow-downs.
• As usual, I think the overall performance of Evergreen's system could be better, though I realize their are limitations in achieving consistent performance on a large system as this.
• I say this knowing you try your best, but I really wish Cardinal didn't go down/slow down so often. It has seemed a little better this year, but it still tends to be a bit unreliable. I do appreciate how hard yall work to get things up and running again when it goes down.

This is something we're always working to monitor and address. If you're experiencing slowness, its helpful for you to post on the Incidents Basecamp list so that we can investigate the health of the servers at the moment and address anything that's happening.

OPAC interface

• User self service (simple data changes, passwords, etc.) Could use an overhaul.
• Mobile-Friendly Site. I think an investment needs to be made for making the website mobile-friendly for patrons. Patrons find the website difficult to navigate and don't understand why there are multiple records with the same title. They would like to manage their own accounts, but get bogged down with the site functionality and records, especially those without any images to reference.

In the last few years, we've made a variety of updates to the mobile view of our catalog. We'd love to hear suggestions on other things we can work on. (We have some thoughts on images and deduplication shared elsewhere in our responses.)

• Mobile friendly catalog or app
• Mobile friendly patron facing version &/or an app.
• More user-friendly public catalog
• Mobile app.

Cardinal has looked into pricing of commercial apps, but we found that it was cost prohibitive to implement consortia-wide. Some member libraries have a choice to implemented an app called MyLibro and we're happy to help if you'd like to do this.

• The patron-facing user interface is both confusing and its search is either buggy or its algorithms need serious adjustments so that it returns fewer false positives. I should not search simply for "title includes tabernacle" and get several pages of items for which that is not true.

When you perform a title search, you are also going to get results where the title appears in a MARC record in a =246 field, =505$t field, =730 field, etc., even if the title you are searching for does not actually appear in the =245 field. This is why it may seem like you are receiving results that having to do with the title for which you searched.

• Also in the patron side of the catalog if there could be a change in the page design to make the records more distinguishable from each other. When there are multiple records patrons sometimes think the item table refers to the item listed below it.

We'll investigate adding more space below the item table or making the line between titles more prominent.

• Have simpler OPAC searching for patrons using only the features offered in Advanced view (Basic view is confusing)

We're interested to learn more about what your ideas are. Something like a basic form that has a title and author field and the ability to add other filters?

• User-centric interface and experience
• I would like to see a more user-friendly patron view
• The catalog needs to be more user-friendly for patrons

We're open to suggestions on things that could be done to make the interface more user friendly.

• More consistency between the search interface for patrons and staff. I recognize there are some things that general users shouldn't have access to, but I feel like the interface is different enough that staff who primarily engage with the staff client may not realize what their patrons may not be able to help

We will pass this suggestion on to the Evergreen developer community.

• Ability to update webpage to opt-out of online payment button appearing for patrons

Would this be for an individual patron to be able to opt out of seeing that option, or for a specific location? This is generally set at a library system level. Our best suggestion might be to have you submit a ticket so we can see what we can do to meet your needs.

• A kids library OPAC (that a child can use)
• A more kid-friendly version of the patron catalog.

Evergreen has an option called KPAC which is a kid friendly OPAC, but we haven't invested much time customizing it for any of our libraries. You can see it by replacing the /eg/opac in your library's web address with /eg/kpac. If you're interested in developing it, send us a ticket.

Interface--General

• Fix the problem that one has to click on submit after scanning the patron barcode in order to get into the patron account.

This may be something that is configurable in your barcode scanner. Its possible to set it up so that it sends an "enter" character after scanning a barcode

• Allow the item status function to go directly to an out-of-county item scanned.

We are not quite sure what you mean here. When you scan an out-of-county item in Item Status, does the item not appear in the list? Or are you asking if there is a way to make the Detail View appear immediately instead of having to click the button? Or do you want Item Status to take you directly to the item record? The functionality is the same for in-county and out-of-county items.

• Making it easier to reset columns after system upgrade.

We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073774). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention.

• Another slight annoyance I have is that after the recent updates (last year or so), whenever loading up Evergreen in any web browser, the screen has to refresh randomly before you can do anything. Not sure of the cause though, but no other website/service does this on our machines.

That refresh behavior occurs when you log into the staff client using a web address that ends in 'nccardinal.org/eg/staff' Instead, we recommend updating your staff client link to end with 'nccardinal.org/eg2/en-US/staff' Your link should look like: https://yourlibrarysystemname.nccardinal.org/eg2/en-US/staff

• Tool tips would be wonderful (hover the cursor over and get a text that explains what a particular tool does.)
• Streamline the user interface of the software. If I could right-click and get further information and features in this fashion, that would be great.

This is something we've been working on in the public facing catalog this year. On the patron facing OPAC, in the top left where it says Search the Catalog, we added a little question mark icon that takes you to a video on search basics. Within the staff interface, some of the MARC editor fields have this sort of functionality where you can right click and get a list of options, but we'd love to see more of this as well. We're all for suggestions for places tooltips and hints would be useful.

• Ease of returning back to a record you were just on. (*Placing a hold on an account from the catalog only, if the Patron requests something else you need to regain their card in order to fulfill that request. I should be able to do a follow-up request once that request is completed.)

We found a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad. You can find it at the following link, and we recommend adding heat to it so that it gains more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2009725

• Easier way to search the catalog, place a hold and navigate back to patron record

We found a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad. You can find it at the following link, and we recommend adding heat to it so that it gains more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2009726

• More staff/user friendly interface,

We're open to any suggestions you have on how to make the staff/user interface more friendly.

• Column management: in all places: list choices in alpha order

This may not be exactly what you're looking for, but we added a Launchpad bug for better organization of the available columns in the grid column selector: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073995

• There are a couple of tweaks I would like to see in Evergreen as far as showing different information in different screens (I think it would be easiest to ask in person). Other than that it all seems to be working just fine.

We're always open to suggestions!

• The UI in general is a bit difficult to use and clunky to navigate. A more intuitive UI would be ideal.
• Cardinal interface (more modern)
• User-friendliness.
• Ease of use for staff and patrons,
• More user friendly overall. Does not flow very well compared to other circulation systems.

We're always open to suggestions on improving the usability and function of the software. Some of the elements we have control of, others are designed by the larger Evergreen community, but we can make suggestions and advocate for what we want to see.

Error messages

• Inaccurate error messages, For instance, patrons attempting to place a hold on a new book get a confusing message - “Hold was not successfully placed"

There are a few existing bug reports on Launchpad related to this. We recommend adding heat to them so that they will get more attention. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1576754 https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1974469 https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2017306

Circulation Interface

• More built-in shortcuts at circ (slow computers mean the fewer screens I have to go through, the better)

There are several keyboard shortcuts that could make navigation more efficient. A  list is available in the Knowledge Books (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=452). Additionally, it's possible to configure the Splash Page to include more direct links to commonly used circulation functions. If you are interested in this, have your library's System Administrator submit a help desk ticket.

• Circulation needs to be more user-friendly for staff;
• User friendly circulation

We're open to suggestions on how to make circulation more user friendly.

• Once a book is marked as lost it sometimes stays on the patrons account even after they have brought it back for check in. That's a issue we have that needs improvement

A lost-then-returned item will disappear from the Items Out screen only when all bills linked to this particular circulation have been resolved. If there are still bills associated with the circulation, then the item will remain in the Other/Special Circulations tab of the patron account. Once the bills have been resolved, the item will be removed from the Other/Special Circulations tab and no longer appear on the patron's account. If you wish to have the item removed immediately upon check in, you may want to consider adjusting your library's void lost max interval, which is the period of time in which lost fees will be removed from a patron's account upon returning a lost item. If they return the item after the interval has passed, then the fees will still remain on their account.

Patron accounts

• Group Accounts Another suggestion is to have allow the group leader see their group within the same account. Parents are having to login and out of multiple accounts to manage their children's accounts. They would like to see everyone within their own account to renew items and see any fines.

Launchpad Bug 1791760 describes the need to allow group lead accounts to view all grouped accounts to pay bills. I've added heat to this bug and included your comment in the comments section of the bug. Feel free to add heat at https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1791760 by selecting the "Does the bug affect you?" option. 

• When creating multiple new patron cards at once (e.g. For a family with kiddos) it would be great if there was a "copy" function so that a new registration form could pop up pre-filled with certain information. I've worked in other systems where a "copy registration" option would automatically fill in phone, address, email, and patron status, etc...while leaving the name and date of birth fields blank. It just made the process easier and more streamlined when the same information is entered multiple times.
• Patron record, improve the cloning features for the ALL information to apply to new record.

You should be able to clone a patron's contact information and home library automatically to use in multiple accounts by clicking on the "Save & Clone" button found in the top right corner of the Patron Registration and Patron Edit Screens. The Daytime Phone, Evening Phone, Home Library, and Mailing Address should be replicated into this new record. We'll investigate whether we can configure this process to include more fields. 

• It would be nice to have the patron photo option that we had in Polaris.

This is possible by using the "Photo URL" field in the Patron Account edit screen. You will need to have an online repository where the photos are stored in order to link out to them. If this feature is used, the photos will show up at the top of the left hand column of patron information in their account. In general, the Evergreen community chose this solution to avoid having pictures stored in the database. 

• Library Browsing for patrons. Many patrons have the same name and it can be a pain to try and find one when their home library is both a) small and b) far down the list.

If we understand you correctly, you should be able to limit your search to a specific library in the patron search field, by choosing the name of the patron's branch or system in the field that generally has a default of CARDINAL. If you're not seeing this field, click on the down arrow next to the Search button on the patron search form to see more options. 

• Improved/smarter patron search so that it's easier to locate duplicate records etc

We agree! Right now its possible to search by DOB, name, etc. but we don't know of a good way to have a little looser of a search to find potential duplicates or matches that aren't strictly the same. We're open to ideas on what we could suggest to the community.

• Notes in patron accounts--would like to see "This Branch" the default depth level (vs. "Everywhere").

We've submitted a wishlist request to make this field sticky, so that if you choose System or Branch, it would default to that next time: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073999

• Reducing the number of fields found under Registering a Patron. It seems so many of these fields we don't use.
• Streamline creation of new patron account by allowing us to hide unneeded fields

Fields displayed on the Patron Registration form can be altered with library settings. Feel free to email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org and we can assist you in removing the needed fields from being displayed on the Patron Registration Form for your system

• Family account access

There currently is the option of grouping accounts together so that you can see fines and overdues for all group members, if you pull up one of the member accounts. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=493) Are there other things you'd like to be able to do?

• Add some sort of icon/color-coding to accounts which are members of a group so that it is clear and obvious they are grouped.

We have created a wishlist bug report on Launchpad for this request. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2074010

Circulation history

• Our patrons continue to complain that they are not able to keep their reading history for longer than 1 year.

I'm currently unable to locate any settings that control the amount of reading history a patron can see from the OPAC. We will investigate whether its an issue with the amount of data that is attempting to be retrieve in the patron's reading history verse the length of time.

• Past reading records of patrons
• Ability to see patron checkout history
• Reading history automatic keep for the patron -

We can understand how this would be useful, but Evergreen developers made an intentional design decision to let patrons choose to opt-in to history tracking via the My Account section of the OPAC, so that patrons know about and manage the information available about their activity. 

Billing and Payments

• It could be that I just don't have enough practice with this yet, but when looking into patron billing matters, history of payments, etc. It is not always the easiest to determine whether the patron made an actual payment toward a balance or if the fees were waived or adjusted by the system itself unless you do a bit of digging. Initially, in the transaction history it just says "paid" for everything.
• The billing actions are the most challenging for my staff. I can usually figure things out, but wouldn't say that it's intuitive. Any simplification would be helpful.
• I would love to see an easier way to find past fines for patrons
• Billing and refunding of overdue/lost material (the billing page/history/details page ) is all so hard to understand.

We're planning on offering training this upcoming year on billing and payments. We'll make an announcement about it on Basecamp and would welcome any questions or issues you can suggest for us to cover.

• Change the system overrides of fines from reflecting that the fines were paid to reflect that the fines were forgiven.

Are you referring to when we waive fines in bulk like when a library has an amnesty period, or something that the software does when it is accounting for things like returns of lost materials? If its something we're doing in our procedures for bulk changes, we can alter how we do bulk waivers. If its part of the way the software functions by default, we'd have to pursue it with the Evergreen developer community.

• Better fine system

We'd be interested to hear more about what suggestions you have or what things you'd like to see improvements on.

• Also would like to opt out of fines/billing as my library doesn't charge fines.
• Some libraries do not charge overdue fees, so being able to set this in the system would save some patrons a bit of stress, especially if the fees catch up on them.

We're happy to set this up for you. Email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org and we can update your circulation policies to be fine free.

• Means to collect on damaged materials.

Right now, we have the normal processes of adding fines and notifying the patrons. If the fines aren't paid, some libraries use debt collection or debt setoff options that are available. We'd be interested to hear more about your ideas. 

• Credit Card Payments

There are a few ways to receive credit card payments, such as AuthorizeNet, PayPal, PayflowPro, or Stripe. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=386) Some self check machines also have the ability to receive and process credit card payments. Email us at help@nccardinalsupport.org if you'd like help setting this up.

Cataloging Interface

• Making scratch bib cataloging a little easier.

We have several MARC templates in the Knowledge Book that we recommend catalogers use as references when having to create bibliographic records from scratch. They can be found at the following link. We will be adding more templates in the near future based on specific item recommendations from catalogers, like graphic novels. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=32

• Genre tags - Subject line in MARC records is too inconsistent to be useful

Subject and genre headings are pulled from a number of different sources like Library of Congress, Guidelines on Subject Access to Individual Works of Fiction, Drama, Etc., Homosaurus Thesaurus, and so on, so some inconsistencies may arise, but we have a list of approved subject and genre heading codes we recommend catalogers use in the Knowledge Book. They can be found at https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=47. Additionally, the Marcive process reviews and updates subject and genre headings as necessary, though it may occasionally miss some as it only looks at records that have been edited within the past three months each time it is run. We are continually looking at ways to try and standardize different elements and fields on MARC records. 

• Please do not take away the "traditional" cataloging option; the new (and hardly improved) option is tedious at best.

This is something that the community that develops Evergreen may eventually remove, and unfortunately its not something we have much control over.

• It's a big ask, but a more human-readable version of the MARC editor would be the second item on my list. It's well and good that the data is stored in a flat text format but it's visually noisy and unnecessarily difficult to manipulate in its raw form.

If you typically use the Flat Text Editor, we would recommend trying out the Enhanced MARC Editor, as it more clearly separates out the individual fields in the MARC Edit screen, and you can make edits to each field in much the same way as you would in the Flat Text Editor. Some of the fields also have labels you can right click on to see options. If, however, you are already using the Enhanced MARC Editor and still find it difficult to use, accessibility-related changes are coming to the Enhanced MARC Editor with future Evergreen upgrades that should hopefully make it a bit easier to read/view. We're open to ideas and suggestions.

Cataloging Standards

• Consistency with records creation
• General rules for how materials are catalogued so that most if not all systems enter records in the same way so it makes searching for items easier

Over the years we've developed our Cataloging Best Practices with this goal in mind. One part of addressing this is figuring out what the norm should be and documenting it. The other part of the challenge is getting everyone that is working with records to know and follow the guidelines. Lately we've been approaching this by doing batch edits to MARC records to clean up easily correctable issues, but not every problem is fixable by these broad changes.

• More consistency cataloging graphic novels,

We've spent some time discussing and updating our guidelines for graphic novels and manga recently. We've also recently done a mini-project to make them more consistently cataloged. Part of the challenge is making sure that everyone is aware of the updated guidance and following the guidelines.

• It would be nice to have clear/definitive rules for punctuation that are up to date so that items are cataloged uniformly, and records don't have to be unnecessarily changed based on differing opinions.

We can work on defining this with our Cataloging Committee and publishing some guidelines. This may also be something we can fix in batch once we know what we're striving for.

• Documentation for templates/standards

We'd be interested to learn more about what you mean. Are you referring to more content on our MARC templates pages? https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=32

• I'd like to see more cataloging templates for each type of material with clear examples.
• More detailed templates for specific item categories in the Cataloging Knowledge book (having a board book template or a graphic novel template that includes the information in the appendixes instead of having to know to look for that information);

This is something that we will begin working on, and we welcome any additional suggestions for specific items or materials that catalogers feel would benefit most from having their own item templates.

• Add an option for bilingual books -- as an example, it would be nice to more easily differentiate Spanish books from ones with both English and Spanish, especially as it pertains to children's literature

This is something catalogers can do by adding 'Bilingual books' in the 655 field.

• Access to the RDA Toolkit

We subscribed to access to the RDA toolkit for a few years but stopped the subscription due to low usage.

• More support for cataloging

We're open to suggestions or ideas on ways we can improve support for cataloging.

Catalog Cleanup

• "Cleaning up" the catalog - there are still too many separate entries for the same materials and I'd prefer to not be able to see records of items that are marked lost, stolen or missing.
• Cataloging clean-up/consolidation of records.
• Continuation of deduplication.
• Continue deduplication of MARC records (especially with migrations),
• Record merging
• More merging of records
• Make the titles of books in one "batch". One regular print title can be found in mulitiple locations/libraries.
• Get rid of old/duplicate records more often.

Up until now we have only been able to schedule the automated deduplication process for once a year because it takes a significant amount of time and we have to coordinate the work with our hosting vendor Mobius. However, as we have continued to streamline the process and really hone in on the necessary criteria for a successful deduplication, less and less time will be required for reviewing and studying the results, making tweaks to the process, and performing tests. This may allow us in the future to schedule more automated deduplications throughout the year. For example, because we had such a successful run earlier this year, we felt confident enough to move forward with creating a new deduplication process that would focus on video materials, which have not been previously covered by the deduplication. Additionally, we have developed a new system for catalogers to review the "Needs Humans" lists and perform manual deduplications. We encourage consortium catalogers, as they have time, to continue to review the records we shared with them in buckets and to manually merge as much as possible. This will help further the success of future automated deduplications, as well as help to keep the catalog clean and orderly.

• Dedup process for other formats (dvds, audiobooks, technology, etc.)

Our current deduplication process includes Audiobooks. We're currently in the midst of a process to deduplicate DVDs and other video content.

Cover Images

• Pictures for books need to be added. Sometimes titles alone are not enough.
• Covers of books more consistently
• I would like to see more descriptions and book covers. What has been done so far is great.
• Have the library to put picture with the book items on the card catalog so patron know what book cover looks like
• Get more images uploaded to catalog items

On a basic level, we rely on the free Open Library service for book covers. If an image is missing there, its possible to add it (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=353) Evergreen also has an option to upload cover images (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=818) In general, this is something we rely on catalogers throughout Cardinal to do as they see a title is missing a cover image.

• Seek out a vendor for better cover images.

We've talked to several vendors over the years and are keeping our eyes open for other options. Part of the challenge is cost for a consortium of our size.

Shelving locations

• More options for location (i.e. Easy Reader, etc.)
• More detailed shelving locations offered (i.e. Graphic novels)

There currently are Graphic Novel and Easy Reader shelving locations. (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=99) Perhaps your library isn't using them?

• Being able to add more personalized categories to accurately reflect our shelving system in the catalog

This is a balancing act we're always trying to figure out. Having Cardinal-wide shelving locations makes administration and policy configuration much easier. In a resource sharing environment, having shelving locations others aren't using can result in strange behavior when the book is checked out elsewhere. Its possible to add unique local shelving locations if you send us a ticket. Our general guidelines are here: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=99

• There are too many shelving locations. I would like to hide the ones not used by my library.
• A substantial reduction in the number of Shelving Locations used for cataloging, OR ability to filter the Shelving Locations displayed locally. For example, our branch has only 31 Shelving Locations we use to catalog books, but the Advanced Search tool displays roughly 160 shelving locations. This makes it overwhelming to look at and use meaningfully for users. See for example the list at https://buncombe.nccardinal.org/eg/opac/advanced

We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073976). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention.

• Work to establish Graphic Novels as a *format* that can be filtered for, like Large Print, not just a shelving location.

We can investigate ways for how best to accomplish this.

Item editing

• Make 'put item into repair' part of the drop down menu under 'actions', no need to manually go in and change it under item holdings.
• Under Item Status, and under Actions, it would be nice to have a Mark Item As In Repair option.
• Add "put into repair" onto the drop down menu for item status instead of having to go in and manually change it, it would save a lot of time and efforts on circulation staffs end if that were the case.
• Being able to mark items as "in repair" at checkin;

There is an existing wishlist Launchpad bug for this. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1862982

Baskets/Buckets/Lists

• Improve Buckets - make them two-way shareable, so others don't have to type the number in every dang time, but can 'save to favorites' or something.

We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073771). 

• Buckets: please add "Author" as a category

Buckets (and many other grids in the angular interfaces) allow users to add and remove columns. We have created new documentation in the KB illustrating the process of adding columns in buckets specifically. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=937

• Buckets and Baskets: I am confused about the difference between buckets and baskets and how they work. I have tried using them to create lists of books to pull for displays, but after some time they timed out and emptied, so I stopped trying to use them. Is there a way to create permanent lists on your personal account, and permanent lists on the staff account so anyone can view them? Can you change the shelving location to all items in a bucket/basket at once? This would save us time when creating displays.

Baskets will time out eventually. Buckets are permanent until you remove items from them. You can turn a basket into a bucket, or add items in a basket to an existing bucket.

Offline mode

• Easier use of offline mode

We will offer training in Offline Mode in October.

Printing

• Duplicate receipt printing option of paid bills, etc. (I could be doing this wrong and that's why I can't get 2 copies of a paid bill receipt).

When paying a bill, you can select the number of copies of the receipt to print by changing the number in the box labeled #Copies underneath the bills grid.

Novelist

• Stronger integration with Novelist, in which when you search in Novelist it only displays items held by my library.

We've made some changes recently with EBSCO that added specific information for libraries that were seeing generic availability. Have a look and see if this is still an issue. If so, let us know.

Notifications-General

• HTML notices with direct links for renewals

This is possible. A handful of libraries use HTML notices. If your library would like to set this up, please submit a ticket.

Notifications-SMS

• Better approach for texting notices (less bounces)
• SMS notifications for holds on patron accounts (making it more consistent and reliable)
• Resolving text and email notification issues within Evergreen - consider moving to a 3rd party provider for this service.

This is something we're actively working on deploying. We have a new contract for a service called MessageBee that we're working to implement.

• Moving towards a 3rd party patron notification system

In addition to the upcoming changes with MessageBee, libraries are welcome to use 3rd party vendors for notices if they wish. At this point we generate daily exports for a few member libraries that use other tolls to notify patrons.

• Text notifications when items successfully renew. These notifications seem to only come via email.

With us moving to an SMS vendor that charges per message sent, I don't expect us to expand the types of notices we send SMSes for this year.

• The cell carriers option for patron text updates needs to be updated to reflect the newer carriers that many patrons have been using in the past few years.

We're happy to make updates. Please submit a ticket if you come across a carrier that is not listed.

Resource Sharing

• More support with resource sharing,

Open to suggestions or ideas on how we can help.

• Several libraries are taking a month to ship out and patrons are not happy.

Based on your comment we've run some reports to look at how long things sit between the time they're captured and when they're checked in at the requesting branch. We found some instances where things took much longer than you'd expect, but the average time is a little over a week. If you encounter this situation, we're happy to look into it in the moment. Please contact Will, who takes the lead on Resource Sharing issues william.szwagiel@dncr.nc.gov

• Nonspecific Resource sharing improvements. It could be better, but I don't know how exactly.

We're open to suggestions.

• Condition of items sent
• The mishandling of cds and dvds has been addressed recently. That was my biggest complaint and packing does seem to have improved.
• Resource sharing, making sure all libraries are aware of all that they should be doing.
• Some way to improve the quality/consistency of resource sharing staff shipping practices.

This is something we're trying to address in our Resource Sharing Basecamp group. We've been publishing how to guides and expect to release our Resource Sharing Best Practices soon.

• Maybe shipping video and AV materials separately. I think it would cut down on damaged cases coming back from other Libraries.

I'm not sure that this would be feasible financially. Every package has a built in cost before you take into consideration what it weighs and where its going. This could be possible for libraries sending multiple packages to one destination.

• Receiving items faster

FedEx has a fairly consistent delivery time, but the delays tend to happen between when something is pulled and the time it takes to make it through delivery to hubs and branches.

• Resource Sharing Management (lowering or attempting to limit the number of items shipped to each location.

We'd be interested to learn more about this. Is the idea to limit the number of items a patron can request? Limit the number of hold requests overall? Reduce the amount of things being shipped?

• A resource for all libraries to be able to access actual useful packing materials.

In the past, Cardinal supplied a basic level of shipping materials but we found we were spending as much money splitting up the materials and shipping out to libraries. After discussions with our Governance Committee, we elected to discontinue distributing shipping materials and rely on libraries to source materials through recycling and local sources.

• Maybe videos on the dos and don'ts of RS,

If you haven't seen it, check out the video Johnston county put together for us recently: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=903

• Mandatory resource sharing training (whether in person or virtual),

We've considered having assessments like catalogers have, but are primarily focusing on improving our training resources and communication about resource sharing best practices and guidelines.

Hold targeting

• New target confirmation alert.

Are you referring to an alert in the staff view if you retarget a hold? If so, there should be a green pop up in the bottom right of the screen that momentarily shows "Successfully Retargeted Hold" If you're referring to something else, we welcome clarification.

• Quicker system response when retargeting holds.

I believe what you're seeing is the holds targeter process running in real time. It has to process the hold rules, look at the available copies, rank them and then try to target a new item. We will however see if there's anything we can do to speed the process up.

• Figuring out the holds re-targeting after 24 hours

We're interested to hear more details of what you're thinking.

• Changes in proximity holds

We're interested to hear more details of what you're thinking.

• Go back to pulling holds from 1st library not from the closest vicinity.

We don't expect to return to the random process of grabbing a book from any library. All of those copies are still accessible, but the one that's closest is favored for efficiency and cost sake. Are there difficulties you've encountered with the closest proximity change?

• Retargetting when book is lost or missing at my library but won't retarget

This sounds like this might be a case where there are not other available copies on that bib record? If you have a record for a book and the one it targeted is not available, you may need to redirect the target of the hold if there is another Cardinal record that is a duplicate of your record. The easiest way to do this is to merge your bib with the Cardinal record with more copies. Information on Retargeting Holds can be found here: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=528 If there isn't another bib with copies of the same title, this may be a situation where it is a Hopeless Hold. https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=668

Hold pull list

• On the holds lists, it would be extremely helpful to have the option of printing a small selection from the list, ie. Check all Children's books requested, and then be able to select "Print selected holds" from the drop-down selection, instead of the current "Print entire holds list" option that we have currently.

Another option is to go to the gear icon in the top right of the list and choose "download csv" This allows you to work with the list as a spreadsheet and delete any rows you're not interested in, or target the list to specific shelving locations or areas of your library.

• Finding where a patron is in the queue to get an item. It's clunky now.
• A way for patrons to see number on hold list

The best suggestion we have at the moment is to show the Queue Position column in the Open Hold Requests grid on the patron account. You can add this column by clicking on the down arrow at the top right of that list. Be sure to then go back to that down arrow and choose Save Columns so that it shows up on your Hold Requests screen in the future. This will at least give you a sense of where their request is.

• In regards to holds, sometimes it would be more beneficial for a recently checked in item to go to the next person in the overall queue rather than the next person in queue at the check-in branch. This is particularly true when certain branches have fewer of an item circulating, like hot spots. Patrons at the branches with fewer hot spots would be left waiting weeks longer despite being higher in the overall queue.

Opportunistic holds has some benefits to keeping things from bouncing around branches unnecessarily, but it also means that things can get siloed at the branch they get checked in at if they're popular there. As we continue to work with the holds targeter, we'll see if we can improve this behavior.

Hold functionality and interface

• Placing holds even if 6-month protection.

As we understand the behavior right now, patrons can not place holds on materials under six month age hold protection if their library does not also have a copy in a holdable status (including On Order or In Process.) There's not a setting that defines this behavior, so we will investigate what it would take to change this and the implications it might have for resource sharing holds.

• On the patron catalog, hold protection does not come up anywhere. This can make it difficult for patrons to place holds, and cause issues for staff that need to tell them about hold protection. There may be a slight misunderstanding, but the six months where books stay within their system- as I understand it works- should be mentioned somewhere on the patron side of the catalog for sure!

Upon investigation, we're surprised to see this isn't explained anywhere on the patron side. Another comment suggests improvement to the Age-Hold error message, so we'll approach these two together. Fix the error message and find a way to refer patrons to details on what's happening with Age Hold behavior. In researching this, we came across this bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1869893

• Problem: All available copies are temporarily unavailable at your pickup library. Placing this hold could result in longer wait times.” Can't that just say "This is a new item and can't be placed on hold for 6 months" instead? "All available copies are unavailable" doesn't make any sense.

This message can easily be updated once a consensus has been reached across NC Cardinal. We'll work on figuring out a better message.

• Records that are unholdable say so in catalogue

We can investigate the options for showing more than Available or Checked Out in the public facing catalog. The challenge is that it may be difficult for the system to make sense of all of the reasons an item may be unholdable for the person viewing the record. Without logging in, the Evergreen knows certain shelving locations or branch collections may be unholdable, its hard to know if the item is or isn't holdable by the person seeing the catalog record. Once they log in, their home library, patron type and other information makes it easier to tell the viewer if that item is holdable by them.

• Make it possible to go directly to an Item Table for an item on hold in a patron account when we don't own the item instead of having to search for the item all over again in order to see where the patron is in line for the item.

From the Holds tab in the patron's account, click on the title in the grid to navigate into the Bibliographic Record for the title on hold. From there, you can click on the "View Holds" tab to see a list of all holds on the item, and check where your patron is in that list. Alternatively, you can add the column "Queue Position" to the Patron Holds grid in their account by clicking on the down arrow to open the grid management menu. This will show you their place in the queue directly in the holds screen.

• Improvement to hold function

We're open to suggestions or details of issues you've encountered.

• More flexibility within holds management to recognize when a closer item has become available after hold has been placed

In general, the holds targeter is constantly running and looking for available copies. After a period of time, it resets and looks to see if a better, in this case closer, copy is available. This is configured to happen though only after about 36 hours, to give libraries a chance to pull the things that are on their holds lists. We'd be interested to hear more of what you're thinking. 

• Make it possible to change a copy level hold to a title level hold if necessary without having to make another hold further down in the list.

A wishlist bug for this feature currently exists (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1738021), and the feature is currently in development. We recommend adding heat to the bug report.

• The Holds function is lacking when it comes to patron cancelled holds. They stay on the "clearable" holds list forever. When you try and delete it, it doesn't happen.

The Holds Shelf does not want items to disappear from the list until a library staff member has physically pulled the item from the hold shelf and processed it accordingly. It acts as a kind of safety mechanism to make sure things are not left lingering on the physical hold shelf that are no longer on hold. In the case of cancelled holds, similar to expired holds, the recommended course of action is to check the items in the Checkin Items screen using the Clear Holds Shelf checkin modifier instead of using the button to clear them from the Holds Shelf screen.

• Allow the ability to place holds after searching for the item by looking up the patron name. Currently, the sequence takes one to the patron's account and the search for the item has to be done all over again.

You may be clicking on the patron barcode after performing a search for the patron when going to place a hold on an item. If you do this, you will be taken to the patron's account and will indeed have to search for the item again from that screen to place the hold. Instead of clicking on the patron barcode, you need to check the box next to the patron barcode and then click the green "Select" button. This will take you back to the hold screen with the patron's information filled out so you can place the hold.

• Placing holds on books that are branch libraries and not having to force holds for patrons.

We are not entirely certain what you mean by this. Are you encountering a situation where, when a hold is placed, the hold is captured by an out-of-county library rather than a local, branch library that also has the item? Also, you should not have to force a hold for a patron unless you are attempting to place a hold on an item that is not actually holdable or may otherwise not be available for holds (such as an out-of-county item with a six month hold protection on it).

• Combine records or permit users to place holds on multiple records and allow for grouped holds.

This is possible using the Metarecord Hold function. You can find detailed instructions for using this function in the staff client and the OPAC in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=471

• Making it easier to put multiple copies of the same item on hold (for book clubs).

This is possible using the Hold Groups function. You can find detailed instructions on setting up hold groups for book clubs and other groups, and instructions for placing holds for these groups in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=819

• A Netflix-like queue system for holds would be immensely helpful. That is, if you have a list of 20 books you want to read in a specific order, then as soon as you return one it puts the next in the queue on hold for you. If not available, it waits until it is rather than pull a different book in the queue.

We have created a wishlist bug for this request on Launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2073773). We recommend library staff add heat to it so that it will garner more attention.

Transits

• Better tracker for 'in transit' items - we could better inform patrons on expected arrival times.

If you're not aware of it, one of the tools you may find helpful is the Transit List, which is available under the menu Administration > Local Administration. It lets you see everything that is in transit to or from your system, sort by the send date, shelving location, destination library, etc. That being said, while things are in transit it can be hard to know where they are at the moment. FedEx has its own tracking, but that's not at the item level. We're considering changing to a courier and the tracking options would be a key consideration for us.

• Better tracking of outgoing materials. "In transit" doesn't always help with locating items that have been gone a long time... When was the item last check-in? Where was it last checked in?

Some libraries use the tracking sheets linked to on this page: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=357 This is an area where I think we could also create some reports to provide details on where the materials in your collection are at the moment.

• No defined explanation bout "In Transit" for a book on hold

Essentially, that means that the material was checked in somewhere and belongs or was needed somewhere else. It can be traveling for a patron request, or coming back to its owning library.

Booking module

• Meeting room system

Evergreen does currently offer a booking system that can be used for meeting room reservations. There are detailed instructions on setting up this function in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=130

• Patron side meeting room reservation options

While the Evergreen Booking Module does allow for meeting rooms reservations, it is currently only functional from the Staff Client. There is a wishlist item to add booking options to the OPAC. If this is something your library could benefit from, please add some heat: https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/1942097

Updates and upgrades

• Some of the upgrades are not actually upgrades and make it harder to do our daily activities

We can appreciate that perspective. There are a variety of voices involved in the process of designing Evergreen and the changes that are made. Developers may think they're doing something that's help, when in fact it complicates your workflow. Our best suggestion is to give us feedback so that we can relay that back through the Evergreen community Launchpad site.

• If possible, I'd like to see Evergreen upgrades done more often than just once a year (at least twice a year so we're more up to date with Evergreen additions/fixes).

This may be more feasible now that Evergreen is web based, but there is lot that goes into testing and training each time we do an upgrade. We don't know that upgrading more than once a year is feasible at this stage.

• Training before upgrades occur could be better, and the basecamp email thread is sometimes too technical for me - it does not focus on the activities that we do here on a daily basis. I am not a cataloger.

We will continue to hone and work to improve upgrade training webinars. Additionally, this year we will increase our upgrade training to include follow-up training opportunities after the upgrade is live.

• Better updates

We're open to suggestions on how to improve the experience.

Reports

• Reports
• Clearer failure logs on reports,
• Clearer reports in general
• I still find reports very unclear.
• Improved reports.
• Reports that are easier to run and receive.
• Make running reports easier.
• Making reports easier,
• Making reports easier/better
• Making the reports easier to access,
• Reports
• Reports
• Reports, Reports, Reports
• REPORTS!!! (make them more user friendly)
• Reports are a total disaster;
• Reports are cumbersome and incomplete
• Reports
• Reports and the format,
• Reports
• Reports
• Make reports easier.
• Training on how to use reports,
• Easier to create reports;
• More report training.
• Always need more info on Reports.
• I would love to see reports actually work they way they seem like they should. Half of the template I've used or tried to make sometimes run or sometimes don't. Reports will often generate blank data even if it appears you followed the template to the letter. Some reports work fine, but many do not. I have also had reports disappear (templates I used and modified which were saved in my custom output). This would also lead me to question whether or not circ staff have the ability to ever create our own templates? Reports generally are not the most user friendly, and simple reports do not always have the features we need for more complex uses.

We recognize that the reports feature has a steep learning curve. Evergreen 3.13 will include updates to the reporter which may improve it's usability. Once the upgrade to 3.13 is complete, we will continue to offer training on reports, via webinars, at the in-person regional training events, and through asynchronous methods including videos and Niche Academy. Please feel free to reach out to us with requests for content on creating and running specific types of reports, and we will be sure to address those needs in our training materials. When a reports fails, we encourage you to submit a ticket that includes the fail log you received. We understand that these logs are not very clear, but we are always happy to look into them for you.

• I would also like a document describing different report functions in detail, as I refer back to the video training at times, but it is hard to find the correct timestamps.
• And more help with reports. Sometimes I can't find the report I'm looking for or I have trouble setting up reports in Simple Reports. I wish that a report didn't require so many steps. Reports are just not user friendly.
• Clear descriptions of report templates and what exactly the report retrieves.

There have been many requests for updated descriptions of reports. We will begin to revisit the Centralized Reports Template after the upgrade and work to improve descriptions.

• Reports training, preferably in smaller, in-person groups where we can actually create/edit/etc. Reports ourselves.

Once the 3.13 upgrade is complete this fall, we will begin offering training (live and pre-recorded) and publish new documentation about the updated interface. Regional trainings will continue to offer reports sessions as well.

• Reports training videos

We have plans for a new batch of reports training videos this fall to reflect the changes coming to the Reporter.

• Provide ways to see how different genres/call numbers are doing per branch.

We've added this to our list of projects and goals for the upcoming year.

• Streamlining or providing report templates

A wide variety of report templates exist in the Centralized Reports Templates folder. You can find information about content and accessing this folder in the Knowledge Books: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=726

• Report cleanup (lots of duplicate templates)

There have been many requests for updates to the Centralized Reports Templates content. We will begin to revisit the Centralized Reports Template after the upgrade.

• Get ALL CONOSORTIA together to pool money stop incremental improvements and do one massive overhaul on reports. Forget simple reports and start from scratch.

That's an interesting suggestion. We're glad to see some focus on the reporter lately, and though the Simple Reports doesn't meet some people's needs, it and the changes that are coming in our next upgrade are the result of an awareness that Evergreen's reporter needs improvements. We'll keep pushing for progress.

Training

• Continue Basecamp postings and refresher training webinars (especially for cataloging etiquette and best practices),

We will continue to announce training opportunities via Basecamp, email, and the State Library's Train Station. We have developed a Knowledge Book Page for upcoming training events: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=930

• Offer training specifically for slams.

We will be hosting a SLAM training webinar in December. Keep an eye out for more details.

• I would like to see better training support for migrating libraries,

Our next set of migrations has already begun, and we have taken the downtime since our last migration to re-design and hone the training provided to migrating libraries. If you have specific advice based on your own migration experience, please reach out to samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov with ideas and suggestions.

• More virtual training opportunities,
• Continuing training sessions across different jobs/modules,
• More training especially in person and especially step by step basics of underused or time saving topics in evergreen/Cardinal;
• I would like to attend a class to learn more.
• More training,
• More virtual meetings for library systems that are more rural and can't always make it to in person.
• Have more training opportunities at best available days and times (virtual preferred),
• Continue to add more training sessions (both in person and virtual).

Planning for training opportunities in the 24-25 fiscal year is underway, with 1-2 virtual training opportunities available each month, with both morning and afternoon sessions, and drop-in open training on rotating topics on the third Thursday of each month. Additionally, all webinars will be recorded and made available for those who were not able to attend live.

• More on-hand training visits, especially when there are updates or upgrades.

We have a fresh round of in-person regional trainings planned for this year. We're also planning on increasing our upgrade training this year to include follow up training opportunities after the upgrade is live.

• More Cataloging based training for catalogers in Technical Services.
• Offer training on basic cataloging, item and bib, covering topics that are not clear in the Knowledge Books so that hopefully records can be more consistent.
• More cataloging sessions,
• More cataloging training webinars,

This year we intend to host at least 3 cataloging webinars, and our in-person regional trainings will include cataloging specific sessions.

• Please make more asynchronous training workshops available, so that staff with widely diverging schedules have the same learning opportunities as daytime & full-time employees.

All live webinars and workshops are made available as recordings afterwards. Additionally, this year we will continue to develop video series offering training in individual functions related to various topics in Evergreen. Interactive asynchronous training is available in Niche Academy (https://my.nicheacademy.com/nccardinal) and we will continue to add content there as well.

• Streamline training on packing resource items,

We will continue to add to our resource-sharing training in Niche Academy, as well as through videos, virtual workshops, and in-person at the regional training events. You may find the Video or Step-By-Step guide on this page helpful if you're not familiar with it: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=90

• I feel like we rely heavily on outside webinars for item specific cataloging training (graphic novels, magazines/serials, etc.) And I think it would be helpful to have all of that in the certification training or more clear/understandable in the Knowledge Book.

We intend to host at least 3 cataloging webinars with content related to the Evergreen software, and our in-person regional trainings will include cataloging specific sessions. This is in addition to the training content provided widely by the State Library on general cataloging rules and best practices.

• In-services could use a tailored way for small libraries to fit in. What I felt at the Kinston session was libraries with folks that had one or two services they primarily worked in where the smaller libraries have jack of all trades where the staff is 1-2 and they do it all. I do not have time to sit and peruse the Knowledge book at will. The place stays too busy. The session was good but to go back and "work" on anything gleaned was pretty much a no go.

As we continue to hone the regional in-person training events, we will try to find new ways to ensure all staff needs are considered. If you have specific suggestions or ideas, please reach out directly to Samantha O'Connor at samantha.oconnor@dncr.nc.gov.

Documentation

• I would like for there to be a revision date on the articles in the KB.

At your suggestion, we've added a dynamically generated last update tag to each KB page.

• Additionally, the KB is not as 'in the weeds' as I would prefer, as I sometimes get very detailed inquiries that I cannot answer and have to consult the support form (which is fine but is an extra step).

We try to balance having thorough documentation with not having so much content that its overwhelming. That being said, we're happy to get into the weeds where its useful. We're open to suggestion on what we should add documentation for.

• Updated information and templates on the Knowledge Books for cataloging.

We have received some recommendations for new templates for specific items like graphic novels, and we will be working to create these templates. We are open to suggestions for other templates, that we should focus on.

• Increased Clarity on processes
• Making sure knowledge book information is updated.
• Keeping updated knowledge book.
• Make instructions easier to understand
• More documentation would be nice

We are continually adding to and updating the Knowledge Books. As we find processes that need to be clarified, or functions that are not fully explained, we make an update to edit, expand, or clarify. Please let us know if there specific pages or processes that need to be revised for clarity or added detail.

• A new layout for the Knowledge Books - the landing page is a little scattered,

We'll see what we can do to simplify the landing page.

Communication--Cardinal

• Communication via emails
• Some sort of easier communication channel than Basecamp.

Basecamp isn't everything we need it to be. We used to use mailing lists and they had different challenges. We're keeping our eyes open for other options, but we also have a lot of history in Basecamp at the moment.

• More communication on Evergreen outages, card holder policies and updates

To keep up to date on outages information, please subscribe to our Incidents Basecamp group. Our updates should be in our General Discussion group. We should have more updates on card holder policies in the upcoming year.

• Continuing communication

We can do that.

• When updates are made in the knowledge book be sure to share to all platforms, possibly consider also including emails. If staff is out for a week some updates quickly get buried in basecamp.

We can do that.

• The aforementioned letting us know who all is going to be added at once and not a month or so before the systems/libraries are added.

We can do that.

• Continue to inform all users of Evergreen of updates and changes.
• Notification about Evergreen version upgrades, even the ones we do not partake in. As Evergreen seems to do a large version upgrade twice for every upgrade of ours, some new minute features can slip through the cracks when we upgrade to the new version.

We try to keep everyone up to date on when we're preparing for an upgrade and summarize what we expect those changes to be, with a link to the full version notes. For the bigger picture of what's happening with Evergreen, we try to post the interest groups that are happening, but in general we suggest subscribing to Evergreen's General Discussion mailing list to keep up on the software's development https://evergreen-ils.org/communicate/mailing-lists/

Basecamp

• Basecamp needs reformation.

We'd be interested in suggestions of how we should reform it. We're always working to try to find the best way to make it suit the consortium's needs.

• Some sort of easier communication channel than Basecamp.

We used to use mailing lists and they had different challenges. We're keeping our eyes open for other options.

• Control of number of emails coming from basecamp, less is more. Resource Sharing needs to be a more relaxed environment. Kindness in general is a must for me and some responses from consortia library concern me.
• I would like to see some tighter Basecamp guidelines (i.e. Enforcing some kind of etiquette on the Resource Sharing page),
• Listserv communication etiquette guidelines created/enforced.

This year we've been developing some Basecamp Best Practices for posting, responding, etiquette etc. that will also include some tips for how to reduce and avoid extra email traffic.

• Improvements on communication within Basecamp is noticeable.

That's encouraging to hear!

• And the basecamp email thread is sometimes too technical for me - it does not focus on the activities that we do here on a daily basis. I am not a cataloger.

We've tried to have a variety of Basecamp groups focused on different topics so that library staff can choose the ones most suited to their job and interests. This year, at a librarians suggestion, we added a Tech Discussion group for folks that are interested in a deeper dive into some of the technical and configuration options available. If you'd like to leave a group, there should be an Unsubscribe link in the bottom of the email notification you receive, or contact the Cardinal team and we can remove you.

Permissions

• Able to merge records again (at least some people from each branch)

We're not sure if you're referring to bib records or patron records. For bib records, a bib cataloger should be able to merge the records. For patron records, Branch Admins or System Admins should be able to merge the patron records. If you encounter issues with merging, please submit a ticket so we can figure out specifically what's going on.

Passwords

• Updates to staff portal (like being able to change the password)
• The only thing I can think of is subtle quality of life improvements like being able to change staff passwords from the staff side of evergreen (and this is already being worked on if I remember correctly from our training)

This functionality will be rolled out in our next phase of staff password project

Student Access

• Student access needs to be up to date.

We rely on the school systems to send us updates. We're happy to receive and process the feeds as often as they provide them.

Migrations

• A bit more support for newer libraries in the way of asking about processes and checking in more frequently

We're happy to help however we can as you're getting adjusted and settled. Newly migrated libraries are more than welcome to schedule follow up calls with the Cardinal Team, after the migration has been completed to discuss and resolve specific issues regarding workflows. Migration mentors assigned to migration process are also accessible after Go Live to provide continue support in areas that may be best addressed by library staff member with front line experience.

Consortium growth

• I would love to see more libraries being added to NC Cardinal. It's been a good while since we've added a new one, so I wonder if the benefits of being an NC Cardinal library need to be promoted more throughout the state at an administrative level and a patron level.

We're in active conversations with other libraries that are considering joining in the future and are always open to talking to libraries interested in joining Cardinal.

• We need a quick link to a list of all the member libraries (Counties, branches, addresses, and contact information) within NC Cardinal; this would be helpful not only for staff to have access to for patron queries, but also for libraries to have as a quick link on their websites.

This information is scattered throughout our Knowledge Book pages, so we made a page that links to all of them: https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=939

Other

• A different alert sound

We have created a wishlist bug report on Launchpad for this request. https://bugs.launchpad.net/evergreen/+bug/2074009

• An ability to print out an itemized list of lost items for patrons that includes title/author.

If you go to the top right of the list of lost items you can choose to add Author to that list (referred to as a grid) Then, you can go back to that down arrow and choose Download Full CSV, which will allow you to look at that same information as a spreadsheet, reorder it and print it. (Don't forget to go to that down arrow and choose Save Columns if you want Author to always show up when you look at that list)

• Data-driven decision making

We like the sound of this and are interested in learning more about what you mean

• Legacy fines

We're not quite sure what your comment means, but we're interested in learning how we can help with legacy fines.

• Support regarding book bans and censorship.

The State Library Department NC Cardinal is a part of, Library Development, is actively engaged in supporting libraries addressing book bans and censorship. If you need support, please reach out to Library Development Director Sarah Gransee at sarah.gransee@dncr.nc.gov We're here to help!

• Support

We're open to suggestions

• I would like to see more configuration options for the Cardinal catalogue. I would prefer it if our library's catalogue could display our own color scheme and branding rather than a unified Cardinal presentation.

In recent years, we've rolled out a variety of customization options (https://nccardinalsupport.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=887) if you'd like to make any of these changes, please submit a ticket.

• And a clear, finalized multi-card policy.

This is something we've been discussing and are working our way towards an up-to-date policy. Our existing policy was put together about a decade ago, in a time before there were as many Cardinal libraries in adjoining counties.

• Checking "in" books that get "lost" in the system until they reach their destination

We'd like to learn more about what you mean.

• Bring back fines

This is a decision made by each library individually and not a policy Cardinal sets

• If possible, adding the sort by owning library distance to the staff side of the catalog would be greatly helpful when trying to locate the closest available copy of an item.

We'll investigate whether we can do this. Thanks for the idea.

Praise

• As of now I'm very pleased with the Cardinal team.
• I appreciate your focus on improvements throughout the year.
• I think the team is doing a remarkable job.
• This is my 3rd year working in NC Cardinal libraries; I have used the Knowledge Book extensively and read Basecamp discussions daily. These resources have been my main source of learning the system. They are much appreciated!

We appreciate the helpful comments, suggestions and feedback from you all!